Billings and Butte, Montana

The drive to Billings was fairly unremarkable, with brief pit stops in Sheridan, Wyoming, and the closed museum detailing the story of Custer's Last Stand.

Something I learned about Montana that I had not know before is that there are lots of casinos. What goes on in these casinos, I don't know, but I would guess that they are mostly slot and video poker machines, based on the one I went into. I blew $2 when I was in Billings, which seemed worth it while I drank a beer. That was the extent of my gambling adventures on this trip.

I was really impressed with Billings; the city appears to have grown well. The buildings in down town seem appropriate: they are big, but not too big. They are new, but not too new. They are well spaced, and it all appears very controlled and well organized. The university is nearby, and the residential areas are spread out, but don't have the modern urban sprawl feel that is so common today. It was refreshing. (The sprawl was there, but it at least didn't dominate the city like it has in Colorado.) Here is a panoramic picture of Billings from one of the buttes surrounding the city. I made it using the AutoStitch tool.

I stopped briefly in Bozeman, to see the university, but I didn't stay long before getting back on the road. The drive to Butte was windy, but I got this nice picture out of my window:

The city of Butte was a strange one, especially in contrast to Billings. The downtown area is built on the side of a mountain, and since it boomed in the early part of this century (before the depression, I would guess), the buildings are: 1) huge, and 2) old-looking. It seemed out-of-place to me. There are all these large buildings, and it looked like there was barely anyone around. This could have been because it was a Sunday afternoon / evening, but it left me with a strange impression, and I left town sans pictures.

I didn't really stop anywhere else in Montana, I just passed on through the rest on my way to Idaho...